Every year on International Women's Day, March 8, the international URI community celebrates equality and equity between peacebuilders of all genders through celebrations and events honoring and uplifting women. URI is committed to the equitable participation of women and men in all aspects of its organization. See more examples of URI Cooperation Circles' work in the areas of women's empowerment and equal rights here.
URI Cooperation Circle: Burundi Women For Peace And Advocacy
Location: Bujumbura, Burundi
Women and girls joined for dialogue, dance, and dramatic performances. The dialogue focused on women's groups uplifting women by forming businesses to farm or sell produce. especially women’s value and the role women can play in development. The performances encouraged women not to isolate themselves from development initiatives at all levels.
URI Cooperation Circle: Latter Glory of Religions in Busoga
Location: Kampala, Uganda
The women of Latter Glory of Religions from Jinja and Friends of Community Health from Mayuge joined together to celebrate the International Women’s Day on 8th March 2019. The day’s activities involved women's group discussions, and dance and drama and speeches aligned with the day’s theme. In general, there was a consensus in the speeches, drama and the women’s discussion outcomes that for women’s development to prosper, gender equality at all levels must be realized.
URI Cooperation Circle: URI Brasilia CC
Location: Brasília DF, Brazil
Christians, Bahá'ís, Axé women, healers, witches and people from many other traditions of faith, different social and popular movements with distinct experiences on the sacred gathered to discuss the role of the feminine in religious spaces and faith in their lives in the event "Voices of Women on the Sacred."
URI Regional Office: URI West India
Location: Mumbai, India
The Regional Coordinator of URI West India, Ms. Qutub Kidwai, was conferred with the 'Exceptional Woman" award for outstanding work in the fields of women's empowerment, peace and justice. She was nominated for the award by the Woman Redressal Cell, Home Department, Government of Maharashtra.
URI Cooperation Circle: Youth for Human Rights Pakistan
Location: Gorja, Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan
Youth for Human Rights Pakistan (YHRP) organized an event regarfording International Women's Day 2019 in collaboration with URI Pakistan in the Govt. Special Education Institution Gojra District Toba Tek Singh. It was hosted by Mr. Umair Ahmad, Executive Director, who said in his speech, "We extend solidarity with women struggling for equal rights and social justice in Pakistan and around the world."
URI Cooperation Circle: Quinaroa CC
Location: Lagunillas, Sucre, Merida, Venezuela
As part of the celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, Quinaroes Cooperation Circle organized a motivational talk to young students of Biology at the University of Los Andes in Trujillo. Through their vision, they created a training space that seeks to motivate women to be empowered in their self-support by pursuing entrepreneurship in times of crisis.
URI Cooperation Circle: Mujeres Kunas Artesanas CC (Mukua)
Location: Veracruz, Panama, Panama
The village of Veracruz invited Mujeres Kunas Artesanas (Mukua) Cooperation Circle to participate in a discussion session called the Empowerment of Women. In this conversation, our colleague Fany Ávila was honored and recognized as a woman who has fought for traditional and artisan education for many years, and who has been persistent in transferring her ancestral wisdom to the children and youth of her community. Recognizing the contribution made by Panama women of yesterday allows us to understand that today we occupy the same space with different roles, and we assume responsibilities from the inheritance left to us by our ancestors.
URI Cooperation Circle: Yacu - Yura
Location: San Marcos Sierras, Argentina
As a preparatory activity for the celebration of International Women's Day and with the funds that we received through the URI WIN Women's Circle, we bought 40 trees that are symbols for our community members. On the recommendation of our Elders, the rest of the trees will be planted between the months of April and May, in the two most sacred places for us, women descendants from the COMECHINGON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: Chacras del Universo and Camping El Peregrino.
You can also read more about this activity and see more photos in the PDF below.
URI Cooperation Circle: URI Borborema
Location: Campina Grande, PB, Brazil
Read more about the "feminist resistance and women's struggle" roundtable, which was held under the coordination of URI Borborema CC at the Meeting of the New Consciousness, in the PDF below. The report is translated into English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
URI Cooperation Circle: Campinas
Location: Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Read about the Women's Knowledge Fair, which was held by COMPAZ - Municipal Council of Culture of Peace of Campinas, of which the president is Mostafa Bartar, coordinator of URI Campinas CC, in the PDF below. The report is translated into English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Slideshow: Campinas CC celebrates Women's Day 2019
URI Cooperation Circle: Quinaroa CC
Location: Lagunillas, Sucre, Merida, Venezuela
For March 8th, International Women's Day, the "Empowered Women: Learning to Sell a Dream" workshops were held. Despite electricity blackouts, the children arrived in the early hours to prepare the hydration and the sharing that was given to the women that day. In Trujillo, we call this drink “agua de panela” (lemonade sweetened with “papelon” which is a brown sweetener from sugar cane) and some fruits for bringing to participants. While in Lagunillas, the community was making a “sancocho” (chicken, beef and chicken soup) and we already had the agua de panela and the fruits. In this way, people of the community with members of our Cooperation Circle waited for participants at the Quinaroa Cooperation Circle’s headquarters, to honor women in their day.
URI Cooperation Circle: Bright Future
Location: Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Bright Future Cooperation Circle organized a program for International Women's Day on 8th March 2019. Three hundred women participated, from different religions including Muslims, Christians, and Hindus. It is a youth group and all participants were students who arranged the program themselves.
- Peter Malaki
CC Coordinator, Bright Future, Pakistan
URI Cooperation Circle: Chahat Charitable Trust
Location: Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, India
In the slideshow below, use the yellow arrows to see photos from the Women's Day celebration at Chahat NGO, in Bhiwadi, India.
URI Cooperation Circle: SARAH Spiritual and Religious Alliance for Hope
Location: New York, NY, USA
We began with a heartbeat. Laurie Schwartz prepared the altar with care and intention, then she sat down, took a deep breath and picked up her drum. Others picked up drums, rattles, shakers, or just moved around the room with their arms in the air. Read more.
URI Cooperation Circles and Participants: WAKE Women And Kids Education CC, Bright Future CC, URI Pakistan, URI Women Wing Pakistan
Location: Lahore, Pakistan
URI Women Wing Pakistan and Peace Center Lahore organized a program on International Women’s Day with the theme of #BalanceforBetter at Peace Center on March 9, 2019. Many distinguished guests participated for the promotion of the female gender at large. Her Excellency Mrs. Hanna Birks from Australian High Commission Islamabad, Pakistan was the Chief Guest and Mrs. Hamida Shaheen, a famous poetess, writer, and educationist, presided over the program.
The program started with interfaith prayers from Christianity, Islam and Hinduism; the representatives offered prayers according to their faith. Mr. Asher Nazir, Executive Secretary of URI Pakistan, welcomed the honorable guests and shared the campaign theme: Balance for Better.
